America is under siege by a tiny, invisible virus that has killed over 40,000 Americans as it continues its deadly spread across America. Jobs are lost. Businesses are shuttered, quarantine is no longer optional in many places. Masks and gloves along with disinfectants and anti-microbial wet wipes are in short supply. We sit at home and watch the news with worry about our loved ones who may be away in another state or isolated in a convalescent home. And we worry about ourselves. Am I next? Is the question running through our minds and in short, we are a bit scared.
So, what should we do? Should we continue worrying about a zillion bad things that can happen or, make adjustments to our lives and remember that necessity is the father of all inventions. I am sitting at home, doing my work serving America’s Veterans as I work with my excellent team of data scientists to keep monitoring and measuring the movements of this invisible enemy as our health professionals figure out ways to combat this disease, slow down and ultimately stop it dead on its tracks. But I am also around my children. They see me busy at work. In fact, I am working longer hours than before but my children don’t feel my absence. Their schooling is disrupted by my wife and I do our best to keep their learning experience enhanced at home. Our family is closer together because of this enemy who has forced us to spend more time around our families. Yes, we are cut off from our friends but a variety of internet and social media tools give us the luxury of seeing and hearing our friends and greater family. All of a sudden, America’s old sense of neighborhood is surfacing again. Step outside of your house and you will see your neighbors gathered apart from each other but engaged in conversations. The air is cleaner. Fewer cars on the road
I am a Veteran of wars. I have faced the enemy face to face and have experienced the ugliness of war. Benjamin Franklin was right when he said: “ I have seen no good wars or a bad peace”. Sadly, this time, the choice is not ours. We must win this war imposed upon our world by means other than those are accustomed to. This virus does not recognize political boundaries and does not succumb to our massive hardware and smart software. We shall overcome at the end. But the question is: what can we do to leave a legacy of this hard time for the future generation? What would they say about us? How do they judge our actions and reactions? Would they remember us for losing our patience and pointing fingers of blame at everyone and anyone and cursing our luck for being alive during this pandemic? Or do they remember us for our compassion and random acts of kindness? What would they say about what magnificent discoveries took place during the quarantine of 2020? What do we know about those who came before us who lived through the devastating effects of plague or the Spanish Flu? Well, Let’s take a trip down the history lane.. A friend of mine sent me a note written by a retired U.S. Navy Admiral ever so elegantly summing it up. Admiral Garry White said, “Creativity is irrepressible. History suggests the kinds of adversity we are experiencing produces fresh perspectives. Take the bubonic plague that swept London in 1655. If a quarantine hadn’t shuttered the University of Cambridge- sending young Isaac Newton to his home in the countryside- who knows how long before a falling apple would have sparked Sir Isaac’s insights about the laws of gravity, motion and optics?”
The Admiral went a little further back to 1593 when theaters were closed by the plague. William Shakespeare couldn’t perform so he wrote the renowned poem “Venus and Adonis” , a brilliant ode to love and nature. When the theaters closed again in 1606, the Bard of Avon got busy. He wrote “King Lear”, “Macbeth” and “Anthony and Cleopatra”…
Would Shakespeare have accomplished what he did without epidemics? If not for England’s lockdown, would we understand love as an “eternity .. in our lips and eyes”? Would we truly taste the sweet “milk of human kindness”?
There is no denying of the facts. This is the most challenging period in our lives. As we fight to win against this invisible enemy, let us think past our victory. How would we remember 2020? A year defined by COVID-19 and its devastating effects on life as we know it or, a year defined by human creativity and kindness. The choice is ours.
To learn more please check out my HIMSS Series book Value Management in Healthcare: How to Establish a Value Management Office to Support Value-based Outcomes in Healthcare
It is available on Amazon or through CRC Press
Disclaimer
“The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or the DoD/VA Interagency Program Office (IPO).